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Top 10 Surprising Facts About Saved by the Bell: The New Class
Top 10 Surprising Facts About the second installment of the Saved by the Bell saga. 10. It was originally set to only last two seasons. *Shortly after the first season premiered, it was determined that Saved by the Bell: The New Class was coming across as just a watered-down remake of the original Saved by the Bell series. In an effort to make it more of a stand alone series, the characters of Scott Erickson, Barton "Weasel" Wysell and Vicki Needleman were written out of the series because they copied the original's respective characters of Zack Morris, Screech Powers and Jessie Spano too closely, even though Vicki didn't share any sort of similarities. The vacancies were recast with new characters of Bobby Wilson and Brian Keller while Sarah Lancaster's guest appearance as Rachel Meyers was expanded to a full-time starring role for season 2. Dustin Diamond's return as Screech Powers was also included for the series season 2 revamped not only due to the failure of the Saved by the Bell: The College Years series, but also to help bridge the gap between the two high school classes. 9. Famous actors were among the cast. *Sarah Lancaster, who played Rachel Meyers in The New Class, went on to other memorable roles following her stint at Bayside High. She was in Everwood and Chuck. Natalia Cigliuti went out to other roles after leaving Bayside such as All My Children, The Glades, and Raising the Bar, with a familiar face. Bianca Lawson, a.k.a. Megan Jones had more success after The New Class. She was in Sister, Sister, Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, Pretty Little Liars, Teen Wolf, and The Vampire Diaries. She is now Beyoncé's step-sister due to her father's marriage to Beyoncé's mother, Tina Knowles. Richard Lee Jackson, Ryan Parker's portrayer is the older brother of Jonathan Jackson (Lucky Spencer on General Hospital) 8. Big difference. *According to the New Class summary, it was said that Zack Morris and his friends have graduated from Bayside High years ago. But their graduation episode aired the same year The New Class made its debut. This meant that there was an error. The New Class saw the introduction of the main characters months after the Graduation episode of SBTB. 7. It crossed-over several shows. *Because the series was a part of TNBC (Teen NBC), the show's creator, Peter Engel had the kids of Bayside High meet two students from Deering High from the basketball series Hang Time, which debut in 1995, one year after the cancelation of The College Years. This crossover saw Ryan Parker and Deering student, Mary-Beth Pepperton share a kiss, causing them to cheat of their signinant other. Ryan was dating Rachel Meyers and Mary-Beth was in a relationship with Vince D'Mata. Also, Dustin Diamond appeared on the show as Screech in season three and as himself in season 6. Hang Time wasn't the only series to cross over with The New Class. In season 5, the Bayside gang stayed at American Academy in Paris, which was the main setting of the series USA High. Plus, actor Dennis Haskins (Mr. Belding) guest starred in the series, Malibu, CA where the show's character Murray Updyke was running for mayor. Ironically, -, who played - on the show, appeared on SBTB as Belding's brother. 6. Characters were mentioned after their departures. *Tommy De Luca, Lindsay Warner, Rachel Meyers and Ryan Parker are the only characters still mentioned after their departure as they were each on the series for three seasons. Scott Erickson, Weasel, Vicki Needleman, Bobby Wilson, R.J. Hollywood, Brian all lasted one season and weren't mentioned again. Neither was Megan Jones, even though she was on the show for two years. In season four, following the departures of Tommy D. Lindsay, and R.J., only Tommy and Lindsay were mentioned as Tommy moved to Florida, while Lindsay either went away to college or transferred to another school, which resulted in the end of her relationship with Ryan Parker, who went on to date her best friend Rachel Meyers. Speaking of Rachel, after her departure following the fire at the Max. She moved to Boston, resulting in a saddest episode where Ryan was heartbroken over his and Rachel's break-up. Rachel was mentioned again in season five when Ryan recalled his relationship with her while trapped in the elevator with his stepbrother, Nicky Farrina and their friend Eric Little following his fight with new girlfriend Liz Miller. After three years, Ryan Parker left Bayside and Liz devastated. She tried dating guys that reminded her of Ryan until she finally moved on. Even thought Tommy D. Lindsay, Rachel, and Ryan didn't receive their Bayside diplomas, they left a legacy behind at Bayside. 5. The New Class was modeled off of the original class. *Several of the main characters, except for Vicki Needleman and Eric Little were based on their SBTB predecessors. Scott Erickson, Brian Keller, Ryan Parker, and Tony Dillon were modeled off of Zack Morris. Weasel and Bobby Wilson were modeled off of Screech. Lindsay Warner, Rachel Meyers, and Liz Miller were modeled off of Kelly. Megan Jones and Katie Peterson were modeled off of Jessie Spano. Ryan Parker's relationship with Lindsay Warner, as well as being in a love triangle with Lindsay's ex, Tommy D was modeled off of Zack and Kelly and the love triangle they were in with A.C. Slater. 4. Maria Lopez, Katie Peterson, and Liz Miller weren't cheerleaders. *Kelly Kapowski, Jessie Spano, Lisa Turtle, Vicki Needleman, Megan Jones, Lindsay Warner, and Rachel Meyers have donned the Bayside cheerleading uniforms during their tentured at Bayside. But Maria Lopez and her two friends, Katie Peterson and Liz Miller were swimmers for the Bayside girls' swim team. 3. The series wasn't as popular as its predecessor. *Although The New Class lasted longer than it's predecessor, no other series can beat the original series. Reruns of SBTB are currently airing on TV stations, while The New Class is streaming on the NBC app on Roku, Amazon Prime, YouTube, etc. 2. The series went through constant cast changes. *After the first season, the writers and producers fired the actors who played Scott, Weasel, and Vicki in order to change the series to stand on it's own. After two seasons, Bianca Lawson left the show, while Sarah Lancaster, Natalia Cigliuti, and Richard Lee Jackson were on the show for three seasons each. 1. The pilot episode of the first episode and the final season premiered on September 11th. *Before the terrorist attacks in 2001, September 11 was the date The New Class aired and it's first episode of the final season. 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